inter-american tropical tuna commission · tuna-fishing vessels 24 meters or more in length...

Possible development of a stand-alone IATTC VMS scheme 1

INTER-AMERICAN TROPICAL TUNA COMMISSION 93RD MEETING

San Diego, USA August 24th, 2018

DOCUMENT IATTC-93-05 SOME CONSIDERATIONS RELATED TO USE OF VMS IN THE EPO AND THE POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF A STAND-ALONE IATTC

VMS SCHEME 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 2. Content of the reports received from CPCs ........................................................................................ 2 3. Use of VMS in other tuna RFMOs ..................................................................................................... 3 4. Requirements for a centralized VMS system in the IATTC ............................................................... 4

1. Introduction

The negotiators of the Convention of Antigua did not introduce in its text a reference to the use of VMS. However, several provisions of the Convention call for the adoption by the Commission of measures not specifically contemplated in the Convention, but which are necessary to achieve its objective. For instance, Article VII on Functions of the Commission that states in its paragraph 1 v) that it has the responsibility to adopt “adopt any other measure or recommendation, based on relevant information, including the best scientific information available, as may be necessary to achieve the objective of this Convention, including non-discriminatory and transparent measures consistent with international law, to prevent, deter and eliminate activities that undermine the effectiveness of the conservation and management measures adopted by the Commission.” Likewise, paragraph 9 of article XVIII of the Convention, which refers to the Implementation, compliance and enforcement by Parties, states that “The Parties whose coasts border the Convention Area or whose vessels fish for fish stocks covered by this Convention or in whose territory the catch is landed and processed shall cooperate with a view to ensuring compliance with this Convention and with a view to ensuring the application of the conservation and management measures adopted by the Commission, including through the adoption of cooperative measures and schemes, as appropriate.” On the other hand, Annex 3 of the Antigua Convention refers to the functions of the Committee for the Review of Implementation of Measures Adopted by the Commission; in its subsection c), it empowers the Committee to “provide recommendations relating to the implementation of, and compliance with, conservation and management measures”. In a manner consistent with these provisions, in June 2004, the Commission approved Resolution C-04-06 on the establishment of a vessel monitoring system (VMS). Said resolution states that “Each Party with tuna-fishing vessels 24 meters or more in length operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and harvesting species for which the Commission has established conservation and management measures shall, by January 1, 2005, or as soon as possible thereafter, establish a satellite-based vessel monitoring system (VMS); except that a Party that already has such a program in effect shall be deemed to have satisfied this requirement.”

https://www.iattc.org/PDFFiles/Resolutions/IATTC/_English/C-04-06-Vessel-monitoring-system.pdf


The resolution was amended in June 2014, leading to Resolution C-14-02 mainly for making mandatory by January 1st, 2016 the use of VMS in all commercial fishing vessels 24 meters or more in length operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) and harvesting tuna or tuna-like species.

Moreover, this resolution states that “Each CPC shall provide to the Director, by 31 May, 2017, a progress report on its VMS consistent with this resolution. The Commission will discuss how best to proceed with future consideration of VMS to support its conservation and management program at its annual meeting in 2017, including the possible development of a stand-alone IATTC VMS scheme”.

For this purpose, the Secretariat sent memorandum 215-410, dated 16 May 2017, to all CPCs requesting that the report be sent and suggesting, since no specific format had been established, that the following topics be referred to:

1) If all commercial fishing vessels 24 meters or more in length operating in the EPO and harvesting tuna or tuna-like species have been equipped with a VMS.

2) When the VMS equipment has been installed and when it became to be operational.

3) If the VMS has been used to transmit the data required in the relevant IATTC resolutions, including Resolutions C-03-04 and C-03-05.

4) Suggestions to optimize the utility of using VMS.

2. Contents of the reports received from the CPCs In response to the memorandum, reports were received from 17 CPCs. They were posted on the IATTC website (see https://www.iattc.org/CatchReportsDataENG.htm) and are summarized in the following comparative table (which does not include the 6 CPCs that do not have purse-seine or longline fishing vessels operating in the EPO – Bolivia, Canada, Honduras, Kiribati, Indonesia, and Liberia):

BLZ

CH

N

CO

L

KO

R

CR

I

ECU

SLV

USA

FRA

GTM

JPN

MEX

NIC

PAN

PER

TWN

EU

VTU

VEN

CH

L

Sent their report on VMS use

Fishing vessels 24 m or more in length in the EPO harvesting tuna that have VMS

- - -

VMS use pursuant to Res. C-04-06 since January 1st, 2005

? - - -

Year when the use of VMS began

2003

2006

2008

¿?

2014

2008

2006

2016

2012

2010

2005

2004

-- 2005

2015

2007

2010

- - ¿ VMS are used to transmit data pursuant to Res. C-03-04 and C-03-05

NA

- - ? ? ? ? ? ? - ? ? ? - -

Issued suggestions for the improvement of VMS use

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

VMS cost. The owner (O) or the government (G) pays

? - ? ? ? - ? ? ? ? ? G - ? ? ? ? - - O

Requirement of VMS use to vessels with other flags that fish in their EEZ

? - ? ? ? - ? ? ? ? ? ? - ? ? ? ? - - -

Green, Fulfilled. Red, Not fulfilled. Yellow, Not applicable. ? Not included in the report. - No information available.

https://www.iattc.org/PDFFiles/Resolutions/IATTC/_English/C-14-02-Vessel-Monitoring-Systems-VMS.pdf

https://www.iattc.org/CatchReportsDataENG.htm


2.1 How to optimize the use of VMS Three members of the IATTC made comments regarding the optimization of the use of VMS:

Member Comments CRI Review the national regulations regarding the use of VMS and strengthen it, if applicable.

Consider alternative systems that complement the VMS system, such as AIS or others. Improve the use of VMS information for research subjects.

COL They are currently working at a national level to make progress in the update of VMS by having equipment with a better satellite coverage, greater confidentiality in data transmission and more safety at sea.

FRN Align the standards of VMS use with the IATTC recommendations. Besides these suggestions, it is worth remembering the main purposes and functions of a VMS scheme, in order to keep in mind the parameters that must be taken into account for its optimization. Inspired by the definition contained in the legislation of a member of the IATTC, it can be said that they are:

a) To know the exact location of the route taken by the vessel along its trip as well as the fishing zone; b) To improve the information for technical and scientific fishing research; c) To improve the management of fisheries resources, d) To verify the compliance of closures, as well as of the forbidden or restricted catch areas, and the

level of occurrence and recurrence of vessels. e) To provide the authorities in charge of safeguarding and human life at sea with vessel-location data.

Thanks to the reports submitted, it can be concluded that these purposes and functions are already fulfilled at the national level in the CPCs involved. In considering the possible development of an independent IATTC VMS scheme, it is necessary to reflect on which of them would be expected to be complied with in the framework of that scheme, particularly if it involves the establishment of a centralized information system in the Secretariat. To this end, it may be helpful to consider the experience of the other tuna RFMOs.

3. Use of VMS in the 5 tuna RFMOs In the review of the measures adopted by the five tuna RFMOs1 on the use of VMS, the following similarities and differences can be identified:

• In all the use of VMS is mandatory at least for vessels of 24 m in length and over.

• In WCPFC, there is a centralized VMS program, that is, developed and managed by the Secretariat, which directly receives the data from the vessels.

• In ICCAT, there is also a centralized program for the bluefin tuna fisheries, but which is managed

by the the CPCs individually and send electronically to the Secretariat the messages received on the position of their respective vessels. In the other fisheries, the data is received and processed in the control center of each flag CPC.

1 in addition to the IATTC, these are the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT),

the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT).


• In CCSBT, the VMS system for the vessels fishing for southern bluefin tuna must comply with the

requirements of the IOTC, the WCPFC, the CCAMLR and the ICCAT in the different areas of overlap with those other commissions. Outside those areas, the requirements of the IOTC apply. Each flag State is responsible for the monitoring and management or the use of the VMS system by its vessels.

• In the IOTC as well as in the IATTC, it is also the flag States that are responsible for the monitoring

and management of the use of the VMS system by their respective vessels as well as for providing the Secretariat with a report on its implementation.

In Annex 1, a comparative table is presented which highlights the components of the VMS program in each of the tuna RFMOs. In addition, the current instruments on VMS adopted by each of them are included as Annex 2. From the experience of the different tuna RFMOs, that of ICCAT regarding the bluefin tuna fisheries seems to be particularly relevant as a starting point for reflecting on the possible adoption of an equivalent system in the IATTC. In the ICCAT system, each CPC is responsible for hiring the signal service. As illustrated in the following figure, the data and information are sent from the vessels to a station base, and then to the respective CPC, which in turn sends them to the Secretariat of the Commission.

Source: ICCAT

ICCAT employs a person for the administration and management of the system, and as a liaison with the various CPCs to resolve any incident. This administrator also has the technical support of the Secretariat for the management of networks and connectivity of the VMS system.

4. Cost of having a centralized VMS system in the IATTC


In the case of the IATTC, and without prejudice to the discussion and agreement on the type of system that the Commission would like to adopt or it functions, if the ICCAT model is taken as a starting point, it would only be necessary to focus on steps 6 and 7, illustrated in the figure above, since, in compliance with Resolution C-14-02, steps 1 to 5 are already implemented. The establishment of the necessary arrangements so that each CPC could send the signal of its respective VNS office or station to the IATTC offices in La Jolla, would still be pending. With the ICCAT model in mind, an approximate estimate was made of the costs of implementing a similar system in the IATTC.

Item Approximate cost Installation of the computer system to receive and store the data and information transmitted by the CPCs

US$ 300, 000

Annual maintenance contract US$ 12,000 Appointment of an officer to administer and manage the VMS program (annual salary)

US$ 80,000


Annex 1 Measure Scope Vessels Scope Marine Areas Centralized VMS? &

Data reporting Information use

WCPFC CMM on vessel monitoring sysrem . Activated in December 2013

All size vessels. High Seas. EEZ can be included at request and expense of coastal state. Currently included: NZ, Cook I., Niue, USA, Aus, FSM, France, Palau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Tonga and Nauru.

Centralized. Vessels report to the Commission directly.

Control and monitoring of the implementation of conservation measures.

ICAAT Rec. 14-09 concerning minimum standards for the establishment of a VMS in the ICCAT convention area

All commercial vessels >24m LOA or 20m between perpendiculars; Eastern BFT vessels >15m

EEZ and High Seas Not centralized. Flag States must communicate to a land based FMC.

Automatic and in real time transmission of data to coastal state when fishing in its waters

Rec 12-06 (para. 13); For East. BFT see Rec. 13-07 (para 89) and Rec. 07-08

For Eastern BFT it's centralized. CPC shall communicate messages to the ICCAT Secretariat

East. BFT: Secretariat shall make available without delay VMS info to CPCs "with an active inspection presence in the Plan Area". It shall also make it available to SCRS at its request.

IOTC Res. 15/03 on the VMS programme NO DATE OF REVIEW y Res. 06/03.

Vessels >24m LOA in domestic EEZ, and ALL vessels outside domestic EEZ by April 2019 (50% of which by April 2017); Carrier vessels authorized to transship-at-sea (also in EEZ). All vessels mandated by 06/03 must implement by April 2016

High seas and EEZ Not centralized. VMS info sent to Flag State FMC (just annual reports to the Secretariat)

Date and position.

IATTC Res. C-14-02 amends and replaces C-04-06 on January 1, 2016

24m or more. EEZ and High Seas Not centralized. Information collected by the FMC and not forwarded to Secretariat

VMS equipment should be usable to transmit to the Director the IATTC data required in the relevant IATTC Resolutions including C-03-04 [at-sea reporting] and C-03-05 [provision of data]"

CCSBT CCSBT VESSELS FOLLOW RULES OF EACH RFMO WHERE THEY FISH Resolution on establishing a CCSBT VMS System (2008)

Vessels fishing for SBT. (Different VMS schemes apply depending on the RFMO area).

Must follow directives of the RFMOs managing the region where the CCSBT-vessel is fishing.

CCSBT must provide summary reports in advance of Compliance Committee meetings. Must follow directives of the RFMOs managing the region where the CCSBT-vessel is fishing.

CCSBT must provide summary reports in advance of Compliance Committee meetings.


ICCAT resolutions


WCPFC resolution


IOTC resolution


IATTC resolution

RESOLUTION (AMENDED) ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A VESSEL MONITORING SYSTEM (VMS)

The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), meeting in Lima, Peru, on the occasion of its 87th Meeting:

Recognizing the value of satellite-based Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) for the Commission’s conservation and management programs, including compliance;

Aware that many Parties have established VMS systems and programs for their fleets since the adoption of Resolution C-04-06, but that there is no compulsory VMS system for Members and Cooperating non- Members of the Commission (hereinafter referred to as “CPCs”) harvesting tuna and tuna-like species in the Convention Area;

Taking into account recent developments in other Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) operating in the Pacific Ocean;

Agree that:

1. Members and Cooperating non-Members of the Commission (CPCs) shall ensure that all their commercial fishing vessels 24 meters or more in length operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) and harvesting tuna or tuna-like species shall be equipped, by 1 January 2016, with a satellite-based vessel monitoring system (VMS).

2. While specific operational details of CPCs' VMS requirements may vary, CPCs shall ensure that:

a) The information collected by the VMS for each vessel shall include:

i) the vessel’s identification;

ii) the vessel’s geographical position (latitude and longitude), with an error of less than 100 meters at a confidence level of 98%;

iii) the date and time (UTC) of the fixing of the vessel’s position, and;

iv) the vessel’s speed and course.

b) The information in paragraph 2.a) above shall be collected at least every four hours for longliners and two hours for other vessels by the land-based Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) of the flag CPC.

c) VMS equipment installed on vessels will, at a minimum, be tamper evident1, fully automatic for regular position data reporting, operational at all times regardless of environmental conditions, and, if possible, capable of manual transmission of reports and messages.

1 Namely any tampering shall be evident upon inspection, it shall be protected against input or output of false positions and the system cannot be over-ridden.

INTER-AMERICAN TROPICAL TUNA COMMISSION

87TH MEETING Lima, Peru

14-18 July 2014

RESOLUTION C-14-02


3. In the event of a technical failure or non-operation of the satellite tracking device fitted on board a fishing vessel, the device shall be repaired or replaced within one month. After this period, the master of a fishing vessel is not authorized to commence a fishing trip with a defective satellite tracking device. When a device stops functioning or has a technical failure during a fishing trip lasting more than one month, the repair or the replacement has to take place as soon as the vessel enters a port; the fishing vessel shall not be authorized to commence a fishing trip without the satellite tracking device having been repaired or replaced. The Commission shall develop guidelines and templates for manual reporting.

4. If practicable, the VMS equipment should be usable to transmit to the Director the data required in the relevant IATTC Resolutions, including C-03-04 and C-03-05.

5. The Commission strongly encourages non-Members whose flag vessels fish in the EPO to participate in the VMS program established on implementation of this Resolution. To this end, the Director will make the appropriate contacts with those parties and notify CPCs of actions taken and any response received. The Commission shall consider at each Annual Meeting appropriate action concerning those non-Members in order to encourage cooperation with IATTC.

6. Each CPC shall provide to the Director, by 31 May, 2017, a progress report on its VMS consistent with this resolution. The Commission will discuss how best to proceed with future consideration of VMS to support its conservation and management program at its annual meeting in 2017, including the possible development of a stand-alone IATTC VMS scheme.

7. The Director shall ensure that any information provided to the Director or the Commission pursuant to this resolution is maintained in strict accordance with the Commission’s rules and procedures on confidentiality.

8. This Resolution replaces Resolution C-04-06 on 1 January 2016


CCSBT resolutions

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